Facebook’s MAU growth rate has declined since 2011. This makes sense since its audience growth is limited. Facebook has penetrated every age demographic and geography except China where it faces legal challenges and native options.

We define a monthly active user as a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through our website or a mobile device, or used our Messenger app (and is also a registered Facebook user), in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement.

Facebook removed actions that occur off of their site. Specifically, [users who] took an action to share content or activity with his or her Facebook friends or connections via a third-party website or application that is integrated with Facebook …]

1.01 billion DAUs on average for September 2015, up 17% year-over-year.

894 million mobile DAUs on average for September 2015, up 27% year-over-year.

1.5 billion MAUs as of September 30, 2015, up 14% year-over-year.

1.3 billion mobile MAUs as of September 30, 2015, up 23% year-over-year.

1 out of 2 mobile users is mobile-only. Specifically, 727 million MAUs are mobile-only users, up 37% year-over-year. This audience is most likely located in emerging markets, where people primarily access the Internet via smartphones.

Facebook third quarter 2015 financial results

Most of Facebook’s revenues come from a combination of impression and click-based ads. Facebook’s other revenues include fees for virtual and digital goods.

Revenue was $4.50 billion, up 41% year-over-year.

Ad revenue was $4.30 billion, up 45% year-over-year

Other revenue from payments and other fees was $202 million, down 7% year-over-year.

3 out of every 4 dollars of total 3Q2015Facebook ad revenue came from mobile (specifically 78% of 3Q2015 ad revenue). Facebook ad revenue grew due to increased News Feed ads on mobile devices. Mobile advertising costs more than desktop advertising.

Facebook mobile advertising revenue grew due to:

Increased ad inventory demand. Partially due to more marketers actively advertising on Facebook.

Increased mobile user growth and engagement.

Increased number and frequency of ads displayed in News Feed including the quality, relevance and performance of those ads.

Facebook’s average price per ad increased 61% from 3Q2014 to 3Q2015. A product change to certain non-News Feed ads in 3Q 2014 increased the average price per ad. As a result, the ads displayed decreased while each ad’s prominence increased.

Facebook ads impressions delivered decreased 10% from 3Q2014 to 3Q2015. This reduction in ads delivered reflects the shift towards mobile device usage where people see fewer ads than on a PC.

Facebook video

Introduced in 2014, videos on Facebook are important since there’s a premium for video ads. (BTW, here’s how to become a video director.)

The problem: Video ads have the potential for generating overrated views.

Facebook defines a video view as someone who sees a video for at least 3 seconds.

Facebook videos start playing as soon as they scrolls into the newsfeed. On YouTube and other services, a video must be manually started before it’s counted as played. As a result, Facebook video view numbers tend to be significantly higher than the number of people who actually watch them.

5+ million small businesses posted a video on Facebook using organic posts and ads in September 2015.

500 million users watch videos on Facebook every day (according to Bloomberg via Business Insider). If this is true, people who watch videos, view a lot of them. Further, those videos are likely to autoplay.

Duplicate and false Facebook accounts

Marketers beware!

“Duplicate” Facebook accounts represent less than 5% of 2014 worldwide MAUs. Facebook defines a duplicate account as another account maintained by a user in addition to his principal account. As long as the account holders actively use these accounts, they’re less of a marketing problem.

Based on its history and results to-date, Facebook could implement the following options to grow revenues. (Note: These 5 options reflect Actionable Marketing Guide projections.)

Reduce organic reach. This has been a classic Facebook move to force marketers to pay more for ads to target prospects.

Increase ad prices based on demand. 2015 results reveal that Facebook already does this. As part of this effort, Facebook can create or expand premium audiences. At The Economist, I used this tactic to increase the number of business readers to meet demand and increase revenues.

Add advertising to products where it doesn’t exist. The challenge is users may complain and targeting may be difficult.

Continue to test new products to extend share of audience time. As a result, advertising and revenue shares will increase.

Always include a call-to-action. Don’t assume Facebook participants will know what to do next.

Get your Facebook audience to connect with you off of Facebook. Protect against future Facebook changes. Entice readers to register for your emailing or to purchase from you. Offer them something they find of value.

Track your Facebook results. Monitor the effectiveness of different Facebook activity to contribute to your goals.

Continually test what works. Find out what performs best for your specific Facebook audience. Keep trying to improve your results.

Support your Facebook activity with advertising budget. This is more important for B2C businesses.

Diversify your social media activity. Don’t just focus on Facebook. Use owned and other social media networks.

Facebook continues to dominate the social media landscape.

Since Facebook’s revenue streams aren’t diversified, expect the social media giant to keep reducing organic reach and charge more for targeted advertising across devices and formats.

As a marketer, allocate budget, both people and money, to your Facebook strategy including content, participation and advertising.

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